1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates to a solar cell measurement system and a solar simulator.
2. Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 37 CFR 1.98.
With diminishing energy resources in recent years, solar modules have become more and more popular in production, manufacture, and verification. Measurement systems using solar simulators are required in production line and validation organizations since the solar simulator can provide a steady-state light source at any time and any place.
A solar simulator is an emission apparatus that can reconstruct solar spectral distribution very accurately. The solar simulator is necessary for some solar products when functional tests, such as testing of conversion efficiency of a solar cell or an accelerated aging test of a solar cell, are performed. With the increasing popularity of the solar modules, the market for such solar simulators is growing.
Solar simulator technology has developed for decades, and a variety of products are currently available. However, most of them are fabricated by a xenon lamp, causing the products to have such disadvantages as short lifespan and high cost. A prior art solar simulator combines an incandescent lamp with a xenon lamp as a light source, and the simulated light is implemented by filtering infrared light of the incandescent lamp with a filter plate and incorporating infrared light of the xenon lamp. Spectral distribution of the simulated light with such combination is close to an actual solar spectral distribution. However, the structure of this solar simulator is complicated, and the xenon lamp has a short lifespan, high power consumption and high price, limiting the benefits of its use.
Another prior art flash-based solar simulator also uses a xenon lamp as a light source. The simulator can simulate the sun light in a very short time, which is similar to a photoflash, and a typical xenon lamp can flash one hundred thousand times. In addition to the aforementioned disadvantages of the xenon lamp, the flash-based solar simulator cannot be used in reliability tests, such as an accelerated aging test or a light soaking test. In addition, when a test for a solar module is performed, the total test time needs to be very short, and the simulator with such structure will increase the measurement cost.
A prior art measurement method using a flash-based solar simulator measures properties of a solar cell in accordance with an irradiance detector and an electronic load. The method measures the properties of the solar cell by using the solar simulator having a short pulse flash, and the duration of the pulse is between 1 and 100 milliseconds.